It is frequently necessary for a person to apply lotion or other material to his back. This is usually very difficult, often requiring assistance by another individual. Also, this problem may arise with respect to other relatively inaccessible portions of the body, particularly for elderly or handicapped persons. Therefore there is a need for an implement to aid in the accomplishment of this task.
For example, a long-handled sponge may be employed by a person for applying lotion or other material to his back, such as for the self-application of sun tan lotion. Although this is a simple and inexpensive implement, it has certain disadvantages in that it requires frequent moistening, is uneconomical in the use of lotion, is subject to drying out and stiffening of the sponge element when not in use, and is subject to undesired contamination. Also, it requires frequent transfer of lotion from its original bottle or other container to the surface of the sponge, and requires a considerable degree of saturation of the sponge. This results in considerable waste of lotion, inconvenience in applying lotion to the user's body, and relatively rapid deterioration of the sponge element.